Three things we learned from Red Sox' 7-3 win over White Sox

Three things we learned from Red Sox' 7-3 win over White Sox

1) The most frustrating aspect of Henry Owens's command issues is what happens when opponents put the ball in play.

Owens faced 16 batters and issued six walks. Not surprisingly, he was given the hook before he could record an out in the fourth inning.

But Owens allowed only two hits, and only one -- a solo homer by Avisail Garcia -- was hit hard. The rest of the time, Owens got a lot of weak contact, with routine grounders and infield pop-ups the most frequent outcomes.

That's due to his changeup, which remains a plus pitch. The problem is getting to that pitch. If Owens can't throw his fastball for strikes, then hitters have no reason to swing at anything else.

Too often Thursday night, Owens fell behind in the count and had to continually pitch in hitters' counts. The fact that the White Sox still didn't do much against him when they put the ball in play speaks to his ability to fool hitters -- when he throws strikes, that is.

Owens insists that he was working on his mechanics the last week and felt like he wasn't far from fixing things Thursday. But his pitching line suggests otherwise, and now the question is whether he'll get another start.

With Eduardo Rodriguez almost ready, Owens was going to be optioned back to Pawtucket eventually. Now, it could come sooner than anticipated. With 13 walks in 12 1/3 innings, the Red Sox can't feel comfortable putting him back on the mound.

2) The Red Sox wouldn't be anywhere near first place without the help of their bullpen.

Yes, there have been a few late-inning glitches, including a couple of ugly outings from closer Craig Kimbrel.

But for the most part, the bullpen has been solid in protecting late inning leads -- the Sox are 16-1 when leading after seven innings -- and on nights like Thursday, they're especially valuable.

Thursday marked the fourth time in the first 28 games that the Sox won a game in which their starter failed to get to the fifth inning.

After Owens was yanked with no outs in the fourth, the bullpen had to figure a way to get the final 18 outs on its own.

"They've done outstanding work,'' said John Farrell, "when our backs have been against the wall with some early exits from our starters. Unfortunately, (they've done that) far too often.''

Heath Hembree slipped a bit for the first time, seeing his scoreless streak end at 10 innings with five hits -- two never left the infield -- and two walks. But Matt Barnes, Junichi Tazawa and Robbie Ross Jr. took it from there, tossing a combined 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one walk and one hit.